Chicago Cops Terrorize 10-Year-Old Boy Playing in Grandparents' Yard, Putting Him In Cuffs

By: Mackenzie Wright | February 8, 2019

A 10-year-old African-American boy was mindlessly playing in the back yard, but then a traumatic event unfolded that will surely haunt the child for years. Police burst into the yard and put the 10-year-old boy in handcuffs.

The child was paralyzed with fear, and even wet his pants because he was so scared. It all turned out to be a mistake.

Michael Thomas Jr. was playing nicely and not bothering anyone, but he ended up in handcuffs when police arrived on the scene. According to authorities, they got a report that a young boy, about 10 to 12 years old, was in the neighborhood and had a gun.

Police believed Michael fit the description, and said when they pulled up nearby, he appeared to run.

In this day and age, with so many unarmed young black men being shot or killed by police, one can only imagine what ran through little Michael's head. It doesn't take a huge stretch of the imagination to figure out what the boy was thinking. He probably was worried that he was going to die.

Someone filmed the encounter, showing the young child standing in front of a patrol car with his hands cuffed behind his back. He was crying, and the front of his sweatpants had a large wet stain.

“I was scared and I was crying and that’s when they told me I had escaped from juvenile and I had a gun,” Michael later told WMAQ-TV. “I said I didn’t escape from juvenile and I don’t have a gun.”

Locals came out of their homes, questioning police on why they were traumatizing the boy. "You can see that he doesn't have any weapons on him," his grandmother said. "I raised up my grandbaby's shirt. He don't have anything on him. Take those handcuffs off of him."

"We're going to let him go once we figure this out," police said.

After a few terrifying moments, Michael was finally released. The emotional boy hurried into the arms of his grandparents, crying.

"Chicago police say it was a case of mistaken identity," read the caption on the video.

"This is sickening," the poster wrote. "10-yo black boy playing outside grandmother's home was wrongfully detained and placed in handcuffs! Chicago police say it was a case of mistaken identity."

"These cops need to be held responsible for this," added the poster. "Spread."

“That’s our kid. They need to apologize,” said Michael's mother, Starr Ramsey, to WMAQ-TV. “He’s going to be scared for the rest of his life now. I want answers. You can look at him and tell he’s not a teenager. Ten years old, you get handcuffed? You scarred him for life.”

Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson publicly defended the actions of the officers that day, saying that police behaved appropriately. “Keep in mind, this is difficult for an officer to tell right off the bat if you’re 10 years old, 12 years old [or] 14. … So they handcuffed the kid for safety reasons because he did match that description. They followed all the rules and protocols that we have in place. So I’m not concerned about that at all," he said in a press conference.